'Andreas isn't artistic… or into fashion. I don't expect him to take an interest in the handbags I design.'

'He hasn't introduced you to a single member of his family or to any of his friends. If he takes you out it's to some place where he won't be bothered by the paparazzi and where he won't be seen with you. He's kept his life separate from yours and he keeps you in a little restricted box. Why don't you face facts? You're his mistress in everything but name.'

'That's not true! Andreas doesn't keep me. I take nothing from him… OK, I live in that flat, but I pay all my own expenses and I don't accept expensive gifts or anything from him,' Hope reasoned in a low-pitched tone of urgency.

'But it's not a question of what you think, it's all about what Andreas thinks and how he treats you-' 'He cares about me, he treats me really well,' Hope argued tightly. Vanessa gave her a concerned look but Hope felt far too raw to take comfort from a sympathy that could only further dent her pride. 'Why shouldn't he? You're devoted to him and he knows it and he uses it. He set the boundaries of your relationship way back at the beginning-'

'No there were no rules set. I am not his mistress I wouldn't be his mistress!' Hope stated in an almost fierce undertone.

'So he was too smooth an operator to put a label on it. Has he ever mentioned a future with you? Love?Marriage?Children?'

Battered down by those bold words, Hope almost flinched.

'You have a right to ask where things are going at any stage of a relationship,' Vanessa informed her and then she changed the subject.

Afterwards, Hope had no real idea what she had discussed with Vanessa beyond that point. She remembered having smiled a lot. She had been keen to reassure her closest friend that she was not offended by that blunt appraisal of her relationship with Andreas. But, in truth, those same comments had blown her peace of mind sky-high and caused her considerable pain.